Chanel, BMW (are the top brands among Gen Y "high-earners" according to the first annual L2 Gen Y Prestige Brand Rankings. Also Ypulse sponsor Mr. Youth's Matt Britton shares 7 ways brands can connect with the Class of 2014, aka the 5-million-plus... Read the rest of this post
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By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 5/6/2010
Blog: Ypulse (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 3/12/2010
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By: Elaine Anderson,
on 8/28/2008
Blog: Fahrenheit 451: Banned Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Speaking of China, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has published a list of incidents of interference from Chinese authorities. While this list covers the last few years, it is interesting to see how freedom of information has been curtailed during the Olympics, in particular.
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By: Matthew Cheney,
on 9/27/2007
Blog: The Mumpsimus (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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collection from a few years ago (which, Lethem informed us, would not be released in paperback because the paperback rights to the stories are owned by somebody else) and the whole of his own story "Phil in the Marketplace". Lethem then answered a number of questions from the audience. I took some notes, but missed as much as I got, and all of it is at best paraphrase. Nonetheless, here 'tis:
To a question about why, when other writers also write about paranoia and such, Dick is so special, Lethem replied that when he speaks of Dick, he often also finds himself (or other people) bringing up Pynchon, DeLillo, and Vonnegut, among others, but that for him the difference is a matter of distance and emotional reserve -- Dick's difference is defined by his emotional investment in the situations. His empathy is his only compass. He possessed an obvious satirical impulse (or worldview, even), but he doesn't make fun of his characters' situations. He seems to grapple with the world and seek for solace.
Lethem had mentioned early on that one of the things he found most interesting and challenging about putting together the first LOA volume was working on the timeline, where 40 years of disappointments and struggles were not buffered by a biographical narrative, but were, instead, tied to particular dates. An audience member asked him to elaborate on this, and on the timeline's effect on his story "Phil in the Marketplace". He got a bit off topic and talked for a while about Hampton Fancher, who wrote the first version of the script of Blade Runner, mostly as a way to explain that it seemed Dick was deeply uncomfortable with his growing fame, and feared the encroaching outer world as much as he desired it. Who knows, for instance, how uncomfortable he might be with the kind of canonization he's recently received? Yet he would also, hopefully, be hugely gratified. "Phil in the Marketplace" is about his exile temperament -- he wrote from the margin and drew energy from what he saw as the fate of the pulp writer. Lethem said he wants, and has wanted since he was young, what every PKD fan vociferously wants -- legitimacy for Dick. And yet he noted that he and many fans also have another side, one that no matter what sort of accolades or canonization Dick receives, still feels slighted, denied, defiant. But, Lethem noted, Dick is now in the Library of America, and nobody can remove him.
The next question referred to I Am Alive and You Are Dead
, and the questioner asked if Lethem thought Dick was ever really in control. Lethem said he admired that book, but thought it played to the Romantic view of Dick as a crazy artist, and that we have to remember that he had other sides to his life and personality, and that he also really enjoyed wearing masks (playing a role) and being a raconteur. He loved to create theories, test them, and test the credibility (and gullibility) of his audience with them. He didn't stand on one patch of ground. It's as hopeless, Lethem said, to defend him against the word "crazy" as it is to defend Faulkner against the word "alcoholic", but we also have to recognize how generally functional Dick was, and how much more to him there is than just the crazy stuff.
Another questioner asked if he liked Dick's Transmigration of Timothy Archer, and Lethem said he did, and he thought it was, as Dick's last completed novel, a very encouraging place for his career to end up, because it's a sensitively-written novel told from a woman's point of view -- and if you're going to have trouble with any element of Dick's writing, Lethem said, you're going to have trouble with the female characters in many of his books, because they are often treated as [I think this is the term he used, but had some trouble hearing it:] dark lords. Dick wrote 40+ novels, Lethem said, and on any day at least 8-10 of them seem to him to be among PKD's best, and Transmigration is up there.
He then made a point I think is insightful -- that you have to read at least 3 Dick novels, preferably in different modes, to really understand his accomplishment. (I should have raised my hand and asked him to elaborate on this, but he's probably done so in an essay or interview somewhere.)
Finally, someone asked what Lethem thought of the movies made from Dick's writings. He said two or three are worthwhile. Blade Runner he said he hated when he first saw it, because of its huge divergences from the original novel, but that later, and particularly with the director's cut, he decided it was one of the great American movies, something any PKD fan could be grateful for the way a Hemingway fan, for instance, could be grateful that something by Hemingway inspired a movie as great as To Have and Have Not [the obvious difference being, though, that that great movie -- with a script that William Faulkner, among others, worked on -- was based on one of Hemingway's lesser novels, whereas Blade Runner was based on one of Dick's best]. Lethem said he liked A Scanner Darkly, though it certainly shows some of the limits of adaptation. Of the other films, he said there are some scenes that he likes very much, and wished he could put together a movie just from some of those. He said we can be grateful that most of the movies based on Dick's writings have been made from the short stories, leaving the major works for future Richard Linklaters. Or so we can hope.
By: Matthew Cheney,
on 9/25/2007
Blog: The Mumpsimus (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Announcements, PKD, Jonathan Lethem, Add a tag
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By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 5/6/2010
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By: Anastasia Goodstein,
on 3/12/2010
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'Kick-Ass' bows at SXSW (looking forward to the buzz. Also Ypulse Mashup attendee Fourth Story Media hosts an interactive storytelling exquisite corpse-esque competition at this year's festival. And check out Superglued a live music app to help... Read the rest of this post
By: Elaine Anderson,
on 8/28/2008
Blog: Fahrenheit 451: Banned Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: press, Olympics, Chacha, Jingjing, censorship, Internet, China, Add a tag
Canadian Joann Dionne, has written an interesting book that chronicles her year as a teacher in China. She gives some insight into the everyday life of China in Little Emperors: A Year with the Future of China. In the Epilogue, she includes information on the Chinese authorities and censorship, stating that there are over thirty thousand cyber cops monitoring the 162 million Internet users.
She talks about the Internet avatars which pop up on computer screens to remind users that they are being watched.
Chinese cyber police also get help from their Internet avatars, the wide-eyed manga-esque cartoons Jingjing and Chacha. Jingjing is a boy police officer. Chacha is a girl. Their names come from the Mandarin work jingcha or police in English....Beneath the big, watchful eyes of Jingjing and Chacha, Chinese Internet users must be careful not to type "remember Tiananmen [sic] Square," "free Tibet," or "Falun Gong forever" in their emails, or criticize anything bigger than Starbucks on their blogs. If they do, the real jingcha just might come knocking at their door. Jingjing and Chacha encourage people using the Internet in China to censor themselves, saving those thirty thousand cyber cobs a whole lot of work.Wikipedia includes an entry and China Digital Times has an entry blog from the day the characters first appeared in the main portals of Shenzhen city, Guangdong.
Speaking of China, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China has published a list of incidents of interference from Chinese authorities. While this list covers the last few years, it is interesting to see how freedom of information has been curtailed during the Olympics, in particular.
0 Comments on Jingjing and Chacha, China's Censors as of 1/1/1900
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By: Matthew Cheney,
on 9/27/2007
Blog: The Mumpsimus (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: readings and lectures, PKD, Jonathan Lethem, Add a tag
The Jonathan Lethem/Philip K. Dick event at Cooper Union was a real delight. It began with Max Rudin, publisher of the Library of America, announcing that a second volume of PKD's novels will be released from the LOA in August 2008, also edited by Lethem. He rattled off the titles of the five novels quite quickly, but -- assuming I heard him correctly and nobody involved with the book changes their mind between now and then -- the included novels will be:
- Martian Time-Slip
- Dr. Bloodmoney
- Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
- A Scanner Darkly
- Now Wait for Last Year
collection from a few years ago (which, Lethem informed us, would not be released in paperback because the paperback rights to the stories are owned by somebody else) and the whole of his own story "Phil in the Marketplace". Lethem then answered a number of questions from the audience. I took some notes, but missed as much as I got, and all of it is at best paraphrase. Nonetheless, here 'tis:To a question about why, when other writers also write about paranoia and such, Dick is so special, Lethem replied that when he speaks of Dick, he often also finds himself (or other people) bringing up Pynchon, DeLillo, and Vonnegut, among others, but that for him the difference is a matter of distance and emotional reserve -- Dick's difference is defined by his emotional investment in the situations. His empathy is his only compass. He possessed an obvious satirical impulse (or worldview, even), but he doesn't make fun of his characters' situations. He seems to grapple with the world and seek for solace.
Lethem had mentioned early on that one of the things he found most interesting and challenging about putting together the first LOA volume was working on the timeline, where 40 years of disappointments and struggles were not buffered by a biographical narrative, but were, instead, tied to particular dates. An audience member asked him to elaborate on this, and on the timeline's effect on his story "Phil in the Marketplace". He got a bit off topic and talked for a while about Hampton Fancher, who wrote the first version of the script of Blade Runner, mostly as a way to explain that it seemed Dick was deeply uncomfortable with his growing fame, and feared the encroaching outer world as much as he desired it. Who knows, for instance, how uncomfortable he might be with the kind of canonization he's recently received? Yet he would also, hopefully, be hugely gratified. "Phil in the Marketplace" is about his exile temperament -- he wrote from the margin and drew energy from what he saw as the fate of the pulp writer. Lethem said he wants, and has wanted since he was young, what every PKD fan vociferously wants -- legitimacy for Dick. And yet he noted that he and many fans also have another side, one that no matter what sort of accolades or canonization Dick receives, still feels slighted, denied, defiant. But, Lethem noted, Dick is now in the Library of America, and nobody can remove him.
The next question referred to I Am Alive and You Are Dead
, and the questioner asked if Lethem thought Dick was ever really in control. Lethem said he admired that book, but thought it played to the Romantic view of Dick as a crazy artist, and that we have to remember that he had other sides to his life and personality, and that he also really enjoyed wearing masks (playing a role) and being a raconteur. He loved to create theories, test them, and test the credibility (and gullibility) of his audience with them. He didn't stand on one patch of ground. It's as hopeless, Lethem said, to defend him against the word "crazy" as it is to defend Faulkner against the word "alcoholic", but we also have to recognize how generally functional Dick was, and how much more to him there is than just the crazy stuff.Another questioner asked if he liked Dick's Transmigration of Timothy Archer, and Lethem said he did, and he thought it was, as Dick's last completed novel, a very encouraging place for his career to end up, because it's a sensitively-written novel told from a woman's point of view -- and if you're going to have trouble with any element of Dick's writing, Lethem said, you're going to have trouble with the female characters in many of his books, because they are often treated as [I think this is the term he used, but had some trouble hearing it:] dark lords. Dick wrote 40+ novels, Lethem said, and on any day at least 8-10 of them seem to him to be among PKD's best, and Transmigration is up there.
He then made a point I think is insightful -- that you have to read at least 3 Dick novels, preferably in different modes, to really understand his accomplishment. (I should have raised my hand and asked him to elaborate on this, but he's probably done so in an essay or interview somewhere.)
Finally, someone asked what Lethem thought of the movies made from Dick's writings. He said two or three are worthwhile. Blade Runner he said he hated when he first saw it, because of its huge divergences from the original novel, but that later, and particularly with the director's cut, he decided it was one of the great American movies, something any PKD fan could be grateful for the way a Hemingway fan, for instance, could be grateful that something by Hemingway inspired a movie as great as To Have and Have Not [the obvious difference being, though, that that great movie -- with a script that William Faulkner, among others, worked on -- was based on one of Hemingway's lesser novels, whereas Blade Runner was based on one of Dick's best]. Lethem said he liked A Scanner Darkly, though it certainly shows some of the limits of adaptation. Of the other films, he said there are some scenes that he likes very much, and wished he could put together a movie just from some of those. He said we can be grateful that most of the movies based on Dick's writings have been made from the short stories, leaving the major works for future Richard Linklaters. Or so we can hope.
9 Comments on A Report from the Lethem-PKD Event, last added: 10/2/2007
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By: Matthew Cheney,
on 9/25/2007
Blog: The Mumpsimus (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Announcements, PKD, Jonathan Lethem, Add a tag
Jonathan Lethem is going to be at Cooper Union on Thursday night, and according to Galleycat he will be revealing the contents of the second Library of America collection of Philip K. Dick's novels. I'm going to try to be there, and will report as much as I can back here. For those of you in the NYC area, here's the info (from the Cooper Union website):
Jonathan Lethem: Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s
Lecture and book signing
Thursday, September 27, 6:30 pm
The Great Hall
7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
Free
Acclaimed writer Jonathan Lethem is the editor of a selection of novels written by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick from the 1960s. Dick left behind more than 160 short stories and novels when he died in 1982. Many of his tales have become successful films, such as Blade Runner and Minority Report. Lethem bundled four of Dick's novels into one book to give a new generation the opportunity to discover Dick's futuristic visions.Jonathan Lethem is the author of seven novels, including Gun, with Occasional Music; The Fortress of Solitude and You Don't Love Me Yet. Motherless Brooklyn, his fifth, won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
0 Comments on JL on PKD at CU as of 9/25/2007 5:36:00 PM
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Actually what Lethem said in reference to Dick's attitude in his books toward women was "dart boards." I myself didn't catch the question about "I Am Alive and You Are Dead" som thanks.
Thanks for the link to Lethem's PKD story; I probably wouldn't have caught it otherwise.
Well, from now on I shall be known as the guy who turns dart boards into Dark Lords... Thanks for the correction!
Want some extra ordinary audio & video ringtones.
If I had the ability get into this 'DICKS' experimental and 'biased' mind towards women (Does he realise that his mum is a women or did he fall from Demonland )I would slap him !!!!!
Perhaps He's Jesus in disguise. I wanna slap Him and check HIM out...Will He turn the other cheeck 4 me?
Matt, I was at the event and your succinct recap captures it pretty accurately. Funny, though, about BLADE RUNNER, I loved it when I first saw it on its initial 1982 theatrical release, but I've come to find it somewhat portentious, heavy-handed, and slow. Harrison Ford's performance is constipated and mannered, dead on the screen. I saw the original release several times, then saw the director's cut on it's brief theatrical release, and liked it better; I haven't seen it in years, and though I've taken pains to buy every Dick film on DVD (except NEXT, and BARJO, which I have on videotape, but hasn't had a dvd release), I haven't yet bothered to buy the BLADE RUNNER dvd. (I do have the original videotape release.)
My misgivings about the film notwithstanding, I will buy the multi-disc ultimate director's version when it is release this fall.
I do think SCREAMERS is a creditable adaptation of Dick, and it should be seen.
I'm happy to see NOW WAIT FOR LAST YEAR will be getting heightened visibility in the next LOA ombnibus...I've always felt to be one of Dick's finer achievements, and it's concluding scene perhaps the most moving in Dick's ouevre.
CASABLANCA is one of my fav. I'm just an average Proudly South African Cape Malay arts and drama student for the last 10 years who resides in a vicinity called 'Rylands'. I have no authority re. Education, Religion etc. etc. However I would like to suggest to you guys to write a book on 'EMBRACING DIVERSITY. I am regularly victimised because of my race. I am normally a rebel but this has resulted in me lashing out to the world because I feel inadequate and in a nutshell dont 'fit in'. I was called a 'hooligan', 'mixed breed' etc. I have a friend who's Indian by race and she is also victimised by all these so called 'boeswa' people. We are all human beings raised in different countries, environments,circumstances,religions etc. Why cant we stop this cooperate bulling? Without any hatred/malice but for a sense of fairness these people should be confronted with a view to challenge their cynical and uncompetitive behaviour. My friend is teased because she watches Indian movies. Historically speaking these movies are considered 'UNINTELLIGENT' movies.
Does anyone take time to reflect and 'THINK' for a change. What does intelligent really mean? Does it mean the same to everyone or otherwise? I visited her several times and is so touched by the love and care that these Indians shower on me. Its all about one's PERSPECTIVE, I guess ! My interpretation of Intelligence is Love. My mum's brother that lives with us ( Uncle Hafeez ( a fanatic Islamist ) had great difficulty in instilling this in my thick head !
My mum is however a fanatical born again CHRISTIAN who taught me this as well but in English ( the only language she knows). I adore my family for although we are 'mixed breed' and people view our minds as twisted ) they all speak the same language, 'the language of LOVE'. My Indian friends family also speaks the language of Love. They are decent and self respecting human beings who are followers of 'Divine Life'. I think that their 'Indian Movies' are also stressbusters for them. They love watching Family orientated and comedies. They also love their food. I love visiting them for my mum is always putting me on a diet which results in my snacking on sweet stuff that I have hidden in my room. She is convinced that I have a major metabolism problem and I love her pity for me. I also have scrumptious food at my friends home. They eat roti and most divine curries daily. You can smell the inviting aroma before even entering their home. I sometimes feel so envious when i see them watching 'SA RE GA MA PA CHALLENGE 2007'on Sat. and Sundays. I stay over at their home on some weekends. They are nearby and my mum is cool with it. My uncle is not but I explained to Him that I got a responsibility to myself, them and GOD to try and live a relaxed, simple, reasonably happy and BALANCED life. The mention of GOD melts Him ! I also admit to manipulating them and most of the time getting what I want and not what I deserve. The film 'DEVDAS' caught my attention!
Forgive my cynicism, my mum is always pissed off with me when I say that it is RIDICULOUS to keep a lamp burning (diya) for a MAN who's just like me. Why can't He keep a light burning for a woman? Does God differentiate re. genders?
It is an obvious NO !!!!! Our Perfect God is not a Biased Lord. I had numerous fights with my mum because I feel that a light should only be kept on for our Father in Heaven. It's all about different Perspectives and Interpretations of the movie. My mum and uncle are partly to blame for my fanaticism. From the time I was a little girl my uncle told me...Dont trust this World, 'This world is not your true home, ' Nobody is your true friend' !!!!!
The last sentence resulted in me losing faith in myself and in the world. Certainly A little girl is not going to comprehend this. Coming back to Devdas, there is a song which I'm in love with I think that its track 10. ( Its some dhola dhola sumthing sumthing ) It has 2 women adorned to perfection in the most graceful and elegant attire (indian sari) dancing and calling out to their beloved 'DEVDAS'. With me coming from a religious fanatic, mixed, but more western viewpoint I found this absurd but on the other hand very interesting indeed. I told my uncle that from my perspective these two women symbolised 2 very disciplined disciples whom have burned the midnight oil to be at their best in order to deliver themselves to God and please their Beloved. Unfortunately, me being the main culprit, Are we cleansing our dark hearts, burning the midnight oil, adorning ourselves 4 the Lord and striving for Perfection, to become 'One' with HIM. NO!!!!! We are busy having intelligent debates, busy victimising the not so learned, the 'mixed breeds', we are busy trying to do the LORD'S JOB !!!!! The two women dancing in the Devdas movie depicts the sad reality of just a few disciples WORKING SO HARD TO PLEASE AND EVENTUALLY MEET THE LORD! I make every effort not to hurt my Indian friend's feelings, of course about their family watching these absurd films. Unlike me, she's beautiful outside and inside and oozes with confidence. In a nutshell she lives a 'Divine Life'. She carries her Indian attire most gracefully and beautifully. I would like to wear some of these Indian clothes but I know that I would not pull it off (I'm also too fat, I wont be doing justice to these feminine outfits.) I will continue to live in my jeans and jacket being nostalgic of our victory re. our struggle in this Blessed, Unique, beautiful country that comprises of a large Family called the 'Rainbow Nation'. We have to thank the Father of our nation, the former President Nelson Mandela for leading us with Love and Wisdom ! My brother and I stopped focusing in school because we were very busy chanting 'Amandla... Awethu Aweebwe...IAFRIKA!!!!! At the end of the day, it was all worth it ! Maybe I am a 'mixed breed' and I sometimes look very dangerous but deep down I'm a scared little girl and on the other hand my indian friend who looks so sweet, kind and conservatively clanned is the one who oozes with Inner strength. The difference with her and me is that I know alot of theory about Love and Religion. My Indian friend applies herself to these principles and lives a fairly balanced life.So everyone out there...do not fear the African...we are scared ourselves...but I must warn you...'Beware...Dont mess with an Indian!!! It just goes to show how we all jump to conclusions based on appearance. And as Apache Indian says: 'MAKE WAY FOR THE INDIAN'. I admire and have the deepest Love and Respect for the Indians in my heart but I am a Proud South African Cape Malay (mixed breed) Bafana girl who will dance to Johnny Clegg's Laduma Bafana Cd, Mandoza and will eat, drink and sleep in 'My national Anthem' Nkosi si galele Afrika.......
PS: DONT MIND THE GRAMMER.
CASABLANCA is one of my fav. I'm just an average Proudly South African Cape Malay arts and drama student for the last 10 years who resides in a vicinity called 'Rylands'. I have no authority re. Education, Religion etc. etc. However I would like to suggest to you guys to write a book on 'EMBRACING DIVERSITY. I am regularly victimised because of my race. I am normally a rebel but this has resulted in me lashing out to the world because I feel inadequate and in a nutshell dont 'fit in'. I was called a 'hooligan', 'mixed breed' etc. I have a friend who's Indian by race and she is also victimised by all these so called 'boeswa' people. We are all human beings raised in different countries, environments,circumstances,religions etc. Why cant we stop this cooperate bulling? Without any hatred/malice but for a sense of fairness these people should be confronted with a view to challenge their cynical and uncompetitive behaviour. My friend is teased because she watches Indian movies. Historically speaking these movies are considered 'UNINTELLIGENT' movies.
Does anyone take time to reflect and 'THINK' for a change. What does intelligent really mean? Does it mean the same to everyone or otherwise? I visited her several times and is so touched by the love and care that these Indians shower on me. Its all about one's PERSPECTIVE, I guess ! My interpretation of Intelligence is Love. My mum's brother that lives with us ( Uncle Hafeez ( a fanatic Islamist ) had great difficulty in instilling this in my thick head !
My mum is however a fanatical born again CHRISTIAN who taught me this as well but in English ( the only language she knows). I adore my family for although we are 'mixed breed' and people view our minds as twisted ) they all speak the same language, 'the language of LOVE'. My Indian friends family also speaks the language of Love. They are decent and self respecting human beings who are followers of 'Divine Life'. I think that their 'Indian Movies' are also stressbusters for them. They love watching Family orientated and comedies. They also love their food. I love visiting them for my mum is always putting me on a diet which results in my snacking on sweet stuff that I have hidden in my room. She is convinced that I have a major metabolism problem and I love her pity for me. I also have scrumptious food at my friends home. They eat roti and most divine curries daily. You can smell the inviting aroma before even entering their home. I sometimes feel so envious when i see them watching 'SA RE GA MA PA CHALLENGE 2007'on Sat. and Sundays. I stay over at their home on some weekends. They are nearby and my mum is cool with it. My uncle is not but I explained to Him that I got a responsibility to myself, them and GOD to try and live a relaxed, simple, reasonably happy and BALANCED life. The mention of GOD melts Him ! I also admit to manipulating them and most of the time getting what I want and not what I deserve. The film 'DEVDAS' caught my attention!
Forgive my cynicism, my mum is always pissed off with me when I say that it is RIDICULOUS to keep a lamp burning (diya) for a MAN who's just like me. Why can't He keep a light burning for a woman? Does God differentiate re. genders?
It is an obvious NO !!!!! Our Perfect God is not a Biased Lord. I had numerous fights with my mum because I feel that a light should only be kept on for our Father in Heaven. It's all about different Perspectives and Interpretations of the movie. My mum and uncle are partly to blame for my fanaticism. From the time I was a little girl my uncle told me...Dont trust this World, 'This world is not your true home, ' Nobody is your true friend' !!!!!
The last sentence resulted in me losing faith in myself and in the world. Certainly A little girl is not going to comprehend this. Coming back to Devdas, there is a song which I'm in love with I think that its track 10. ( Its some dhola dhola sumthing sumthing ) It has 2 women adorned to perfection in the most graceful and elegant attire (indian sari) dancing and calling out to their beloved 'DEVDAS'. With me coming from a religious fanatic, mixed, but more western viewpoint I found this absurd but on the other hand very interesting indeed. I told my uncle that from my perspective these two women symbolised 2 very disciplined disciples whom have burned the midnight oil to be at their best in order to deliver themselves to God and please their Beloved. Unfortunately, me being the main culprit, Are we cleansing our dark hearts, burning the midnight oil, adorning ourselves 4 the Lord and striving for Perfection, to become 'One' with HIM. NO!!!!! We are busy having intelligent debates, busy victimising the not so learned, the 'mixed breeds', we are busy trying to do the LORD'S JOB !!!!! The two women dancing in the Devdas movie depicts the sad reality of just a few disciples WORKING SO HARD TO PLEASE AND EVENTUALLY MEET THE LORD! I make every effort not to hurt my Indian friend's feelings, of course about their family watching these absurd films. Unlike me, she's beautiful outside and inside and oozes with confidence. In a nutshell she lives a 'Divine Life'. She carries her Indian attire most gracefully and beautifully. I would like to wear some of these Indian clothes but I know that I would not pull it off (I'm also too fat, I wont be doing justice to these feminine outfits.) I will continue to live in my jeans and jacket being nostalgic of our victory re. our struggle in this Blessed, Unique, beautiful country that comprises of a large Family called the 'Rainbow Nation'. We have to thank the Father of our nation, the former President Nelson Mandela for leading us with Love and Wisdom ! My brother and I stopped focusing in school because we were very busy chanting 'Amandla... Awethu Aweebwe...IAFRIKA!!!!! At the end of the day, it was all worth it ! Maybe I am a 'mixed breed' and I sometimes look very dangerous but deep down I'm a scared little girl and on the other hand my indian friend who looks so sweet, kind and conservatively clanned is the one who oozes with Inner strength. The difference with her and me is that I know alot of theory about Love and Religion. My Indian friend applies herself to these principles and lives a fairly balanced life.So everyone out there...do not fear the African...we are scared ourselves...but I must warn you...'Beware...Dont mess with an Indian!!! It just goes to show how we all jump to conclusions based on appearance. And as Apache Indian says: 'MAKE WAY FOR THE INDIAN'. I admire and have the deepest Love and Respect for the Indians in my heart but I am a Proud South African Cape Malay (mixed breed) Bafana girl who will dance to Johnny Clegg's Laduma Bafana Cd, Mandoza and will eat, drink and sleep in 'My national Anthem' Nkosi si galele Afrika.......
PS: DONT MIND THE GRAMMER.
Yeah, I too am glad to see Now Wait on the list...I think it's quite underrated and prefer it to Electric Sheep and High Castle. And while it still has a rather unsympathetic female character, Dick approaches the situation with a bit more distance and depth than in other books. The time travel story in it is also one of his most sophisticated disorientation devices, right up there with Ubik and Three Stigmata.
It's so strange, though, because I thought Dick achieved legitimacy a long time ago...I want legitimacy for Thomas Disch and Chris Priest!